On and on and on the Public Services Card rolls despite almost all the wheels having fallen off, even the mandatory but not compulsory wheels that have been hastily repaired and reapplied to the shambling mess as it drags itself from pothole to ditch to pothole. The potholes and ditches in this case are rules,…
The Knowledge Gap [KitBits 17.11]
I was prompted to write this post, which had been rolling around the back of my head for quite some time, by this series of tweets by Simon McGarr. Do read them all. Privacy and data protection is not a dry legal issue, nor an incomprehensible technical thing best left to boffins. Data protection at…
May Roundup
This month there’s a fair bit about advertising and the power which combining disparate buckets of information about you offers to the world’s advertising companies, large and small. The Irish state’s continued quest to issue three million biometric-capable identity cards it signed a contract for without explaining why it thinks these cards are needed is…
Ordering Pizza In The Future [Video]
This is a short America Civil Liberties Union video from 2006. If it seemed like an extreme scenario when it was first made, it looks far more likely now.
The Man Who Invented The Web Agrees [KitBits 17.4]
The web has turned twenty eight. Tim Berners-Lee, the man who invented the web, has a few thoughts on the challenges that face it. Number one on his list is ‘We’ve lost control of our personal data’. The current business model for many websites offers free content in exchange for personal data. Many of us…
November Roundup
If you plan on spending any time in the UK in the near future, do be aware that staff of the Postal Services Commission will be able to look at everything you’ve been browsing on the Web. No, that’s not a somewhat strange hypothetical situation constructed to make you think a bit about digital privacy,…
October Roundup
This month you’re in a police line up and your DNA information is held offshore by a third party. Well, maybe neither of those things are true yet, but they’re certainly perfectly possible. Google and Facebook are still profiling you, but are entirely determined to profile you more, and harder. 1. DNA Genealogy There was…